Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Appian vs BizTalk Server vs Pega Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Process Automation category, the mindshare of Appian is 6.6%, down from 10.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of BizTalk Server is 0.7%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Pega Platform is 6.3%, down from 11.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Process Automation
 

Featured Reviews

RAVIRANJAN - PeerSpot reviewer
Low-code with good reliability and good workflows
We have a partnership with Appian. We have worked with Appian to deal with issues. They have already incorporated many things into their platform. One of the things we have discussed, which I can highlight, is related to Excel manipulations. They have incorporated their Excel manipulations so it's far better than the earlier version. Earlier, we had to go with a plugin for even a simple Excel or spreadsheet calculation. Now, they have included all those things in their own out-of-the-box functionality. It's definitely a tool and does not require high code language. There could be a scope of enhancement for capturing the variety of use cases. One thing, for example, is Excel manipulation, which they now provide in their out of box functionality, however, that can still be improved.
Srinidhi S - PeerSpot reviewer
For production environments, messages are easily stored within the MessageBox database and offers multiple deployment methods
Some room for improvement means... it's legacy. It's an on-premises system, requiring physical servers for deployment. This is different from Azure; you don't need any servers with Azure. If you have a subscription, you can do whatever you want. There are unit restrictions based on the environment (like non-production vs. production) in BizTalk. You need physical servers and databases. In Azure, those are not required – it's all in the cloud. Now, we have the option of integrating accounts and the On-Premises Data Gateway to connect on-premises BizTalk with Azure. But the trend is moving towards Azure. Not everyone wants a hybrid model. Companies are still going with hybrid scenarios, but they want both BizTalk and Azure. See, whatever you can do in BizTalk, you cannot do the same things the same way in Azure. One example is tracking. In BizTalk, especially for production environments, messages are easily stored within the MessageBox database. Support can assist in retrieving them directly. It's not as easy to track in Azure – everyone can potentially access it, and even reprocessing is different. Logic Apps have a preview mode. If a Logic App is stuck at a particular action, you can resubmit from there. Microsoft is still making improvements – I don't know when they'll have general availability for these features. However, tracking and message storage are more complex in Azure. We have to use Azure Blob storage for archiving, whereas in BizTalk, it's a built-in feature of the MessageBox DB. If you need to debug at any point, you can do so easily in BizTalk. This is one aspect influenced by the on-premises nature of BizTalk. Since everything is moving to the cloud, Microsoft will also end support for BizTalk Server 2030 – there won't be any further support. I don't think they'll release any new versions. 2020 was the last, and it's been four years. After the end of support, I think companies currently using BizTalk will move to Azure or another cloud-based integration technology.
Mallik-Kesavaraju - PeerSpot reviewer
Significantly improves the overall cycle time, and offers robotic automation, and the BPM workflow
The extensive availability of ready-made gadgets in Pega BPM is a double-edged sword. While it offers convenience, it also leads to a steeper learning curve. Our developers and business analysts need to invest significant time and effort to fully understand and utilize the platform's capabilities. In essence, it's a complex product that demands a deep understanding to be used effectively. So, it cuts both ways. This complexity can be both an advantage and a disadvantage, depending on the user's expertise. So, the learning curve is pretty high! So, it's very good if you are a professional user, but you need to be a really good professional user to use this solution effectively.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Appian is easy to install and set up, and it does not come out with your audit. It has accessible process orchestration and process management. With Appian, the time to market is much faster."
"Even with an on-premise implementation, the scalability is still high, so it is easy to scale up."
"It has very flexible adaptation and the ability to save and automate processes."
"This is the most complete solution of its kind."
"We appreciate the drag and drop functionality and the easy to access plug and play features."
"Appian is a very low code platform. It's very easy to learn and use."
"The product's most valuable feature is the low code aspect of development. We can develop an end-to-end VPN solution using a single platform."
"The most valuable features are the low coding and low code data."
"I rate the tool's stability a nine out of ten."
"Compared to the current solutions I use, like Azure Logic Apps and other cloud services, BizTalk was far better and more reliable."
"The most valuable feature of BizTalk Server is that it will turn XML into flexible transactions."
"BIzTalk's integration with Visual Studio is the most valuable feature of this product."
"The tool's most valuable feature is its integration with the banks. Its messaging and routing capabilities are good."
"The most valuable feature is its reliability and stability. The first version of BizTalk was released in 2000, and many companies still use it. It was stable until 2013 when we had support."
"The AS2 communication protocol is one of the most advanced processes."
"Essentially, you can do whatever you like with these systems, and you do not have to take care about the scaling because if one server is overloaded, it just forwards the message to the next server, even if it were designated to a specific server. It weeds out the messages according to the load. If you want to scale it, you just add new servers."
"Case Management, as well as Workflow Automation, are Pega's most powerful capabilities."
"The solution provides us with a very good dashboard."
"Pega BPM's most valuable features are case management, integration, the convenience of using REST APIs, and the ease of changing things at the UI level."
"Scalable and stable BPM software with a powerful case management feature. It also has good workflow."
"Allowed us to develop and quickly release with confidence using cloud technologies."
"The product helps you to build faster."
"It's not too expensive."
"It is quite configurable, which is the most exciting feature. We can easily configure it as per our needs."
 

Cons

"I would like to see more complete university tools. For example, with UiPath, I have had a good experience related to a free course in order to provide some users some different levels of knowledge. This extra training helps users not only use the solution but to develop further within the tool."
"We have clients that want to use Office 365, Microsoft Analytics, and Power Apps. Appian just isn't the same as using something specifically designed to cater to the Microsoft Suite."
"There is no UI customization possible."
"The UI of Appian is more internal. Recently, there has been an addition of an external user portal for the customer-facing stuff. It's still coming out."
"The solution could improve by being more responsive when dealing with large quantities of data. Additionally, they can make the decision or rules engine better. It cannot handle too many rules or too many decisions at once."
"One of the areas that Appian is working on is to improve its UI capabilities and give more flexibility to the UI."
"It would be nice if you could create your own customized apps when the business needed them.​"
"What could be improved is more on the front end perspective, like the user interface and the mobile application aspect."
"The product could be improved in monitoring, managing, and support functionalities."
"The product's deployment can be quicker"
"BizTalk lacks native cloud support. BizTalk doesn't offer in-built support for cloud. We need to use third-party adapters to connect it to cloud services."
"Updating things in BizTalk is a headache."
"The deployment could be simplified."
"BizTalk Server is an outdated legacy system that does not support messaging."
"BizTalk is in the past, Microsoft is not going to evolve it any further or add any new features."
"It's a complex product because you have many degrees of freedom to connect different parts together. Whether it's sensible or not, is up to you, but the machine does allow it. But because of the vast degrees of freedom, it's complex."
"The quality of partners available with Pega specialisation can be improved."
"The UI needs improvement."
"The pricing model needs to be improved. Right now, it's too expensive."
"The solution's pricing model or licensing model could be a little better."
"The solution would benefit from more integration capabilities."
"In the next release of Pega BPM, they should add more ways to do the customer interaction fields in the portals."
"The initial setup takes time."
"The workflow automation can be slow, so there is room for improvement there."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is expensive, but powerful. I would recommend comparing against cheaper licensing products and open source."
"You can't really test the software properly without actually buying the license first."
"The licensing will be on a monthly basis. We are estimating that cost to be around $2000 to maybe $3,000 per month. We don't foresee any costs above that."
"The license is not very cheap. It's on the expensive side."
"It's good value for the price."
"More flexibility in the licensing model is still needed because initially there were customers who are looking at only one or two use cases of business areas, but now the business areas are changing and there is a larger scope. One license model may not fit everyone. They need to be a little more flexible on the licensing model."
"The price of the solution is reasonable and is paid annually. The price of the solution depends on how many users use the solution. It can range from $50,000 to $200,000. For example, for 20,000 users the price can be approximately $200,000."
"Licensing of Appian is less expensive when compared to other BPMs in the market."
"BizTalk Server is not freeware. There's a significant licensing cost involved. Be sure you will actually utilize its features fully."
"It was not cheap, but it was affordable."
"BizTalk Server is cheap. I would rate its pricing a two out of five."
"Based on the knowledge, it is relatively cheaper than Azure Identity Services and cloud services in general."
"The cost will depend on the client's requirements."
"The solution is expensive."
"The solution could be less expensive according to my customers. However, I think the price of the solution is fair."
"The licensing model from Pega BPM is too complex and is more expensive than other solutions, such as SAP. The overall price of the solution depends on the use case."
"This upgrade process is very expensive; although I haven't been on the sales team responsible for the pricing, I know it costs millions of dollars."
"They need to come up with licensing options. Right now they do have a cloud-based option, but the cloud prices I've seen are much more expensive compared to competing products."
"Pega is expensive."
"The licensing model for Pega BPM needs to be improved."
"There are multiple Pega licensing models, including outcome- and revenue-based licensing models"
"The price of this solution, including installation and configuration, is comparable to competing vendors."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Process Automation solutions are best for your needs.
850,043 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
27%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
6%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Retailer
7%
Financial Services Firm
28%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Which do you prefer - Appian or Camunda Platform?
Appian is fast when building simple to medium solutions. This solution offers simple drag-and-drop functionality with...
Is Appian a suitable solution for beginners who have no additional preparation?
Appian is actually pretty big on educating its users, including with courses that reward you with certifications. The...
Is it easy to set up Appian or did you have to resort to professional help?
We had some issues when we were setting up Appian. It was quite surprising, since this is a low-code tool which, in i...
What do you like most about BizTalk Server?
The tool's most valuable feature is its integration with the banks. Its messaging and routing capabilities are good.
What needs improvement with BizTalk Server?
BizTalk is deployed on-premise. Deployment methodologies are vast in the cloud area. Whereas, if we want to update ev...
What advice do you have for others considering BizTalk Server?
When I started my career with BizTalk, people told me the vendor would sunset BizTalk Server, but it didn't happen. H...
Is Pega BPM easy to work with and can beginners utilize this software?
You do need some preparation to be able to use all functions of Pega BPM. However, all users of this platform are in ...
Have you encountered any issues while using Pega BPM and were you assisted by the company?
My company has been using this tool for years and the only issue we have had, if you can call it that, was while sett...
When you consider the features and benefits of Pega BPM, would you say this product is fairly priced?
Pega BPM can be considered overpriced for some; it all depends on the size of your company and the requirements of y...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

Appian BPM, Appian AnyWhere, Appian Enterprise BPMS
No data available
Pega BPM, Pegasystems, SmartBPM, PegaRULES
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Hansard Global plc, Punch Taverns, Pirelli, Crawford & Company, EDP Renewables, Queensland Government Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning (, Bank of Tennessee
Centrebet, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, QualCare, Wªrth Handelsges.m.b.H, DTEK, Allscripts, United BioSource, Hogg Robinson
The State of Maine, ANZ, Coca-Cola, Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), ME, New South Wales, OptumRx, Texas Department of Transportation, UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement
Find out what your peers are saying about Camunda, BMC, Pega and others in Process Automation. Updated: April 2025.
850,043 professionals have used our research since 2012.